"Hold on, folks!" Present ripped into the microphone, eyes flashing as the arena shook and brightened to the impact of the two fighters. "Once again, we've got Todoroki Shoto bringing the fire to his opponent!"
"Reminiscent of his father, don't you think?" He turned to ask his partner.
"Very." Aizawa grunted, focusing on the match at hand. "But it's no use if he can't control it…"
"Well said, Aizawa sensei!" Present Mic chuckled, pointing down at the two students. "It's even worse if Todoroki can't even see!"
Todoroki's eyes widened as Renji's figure burst from the smokescreen in a twisted position. His arms spread wide and back curled inward like he were a cat pouncing on his prey.
Reacting quickly, Todoroki flashed a fiery wave like that of a storm in an attempt to force Renji back.
But to his dismay, Renji's weight suddenly increased exponentially, rocketing him down to the ground where he could bounce off the floor to shift his momentum.
"Look at the boy go!" Midnight cackled at the show, having retreated somewhat to get away from the hellish flames.
"Boy?" Cementoss mumbled from nearby. "If that's just a boy than I must be on a different planet. When's the last time you've seen a boy move like that?"
"Well, I can see where you're coming from…" Midnight remarked, "I wonder how he'd hold up to some of the heroes in the rankings."
"I'm sure they're watching right now."
"You can say that again. The kid's inbox is going to be flooded with hundreds of invitations. It'll be a wonder if he can get through them all."
Midnight sighed in mock frustration. "You think he'd be willing to work with me? His popularity is only going to skyrocket from here, could be good for my campaign."
"Hmm…" Cementoss hummed, watching another fiery blast rocket its way toward the crowd before ultimately being stopped. "I doubt he's very interested in that type of thing. Maybe if you catch him in a good mood."
Midnight rubbed the back of her head, giggling. "I can just smell the amount of money we could make together, that foreign aspect of his with the absolute stomping he's shown today is just… tantalizing~"
Cementoss looked offhandedly at his coworker, a hint of exasperation sneaking past his rock hard facade. "Don't get ahead of yourself, Midnight. He's just a boy."
"Weren't you the one saying that he wasn't a boy?"
—
A large blast of fire and ice rocketed through the smoke again as Todoroki caught a hint of his opponent's silhouette. One of his arms dropped to the side, the ice that was so prominent was beginning to slide off his shoulder in a show of weakness.
"You're tired," Renji's voice echoed all around, it was starting to become difficult to pinpoint exactly where.
Todoroki's ears hammered as his lungs yearned for an extra breath. One side of his body was lit up in a hellish flame, kept just below the temperature needed to burn his skin off.
At the same time, the other side of his body was beginning to show signs of frostbite, only kept alive due to taking breaks between using it.
The flames began to sputter out from his left, as he swayed hazardously.
Todoroki's teeth gritted in annoyance, "Come on out of there!"
Within a few seconds, a set of steps could be heard from beyond the smoke. They were heavy, as if a mountain were walking towards him. But Todoroki knew it was no mountain, just an impossibly strong boy his age.
"Your fire is disappointing…" Renji kicked the few embers still lying on the arena floor. "I mean, they've gotten better since we started fighting, but I guess there's only so much I can teach you without talking."
Todoroki let out a cough, stomping down hard to keep upright. He tried to talk, but it took all he had to even call Renji out of the smoke in the first place.
"It could've been more concentrated." Renji continued, "Like a laser. I've been working on something like that by the way. It's pretty interesting work."
"Although… you're not really the type to be interested in something like that so I'll let it slide for now."
Renji's hand folded behind his back calmly as he set his gaze back on Todoroki. "You did good to control your left and right sides together, but it's clear that you don't have much experience in that department."
"You talented motherfucker. All this time and you've never used the two hand in hand? God, what have you been doing."
That being said, he has improved a little bit throughout the fight. I honestly thought he would've burnt out or frozen to death by now.
"Anyways, I can see that you're about to keel over." Renji waved his hand with a fake smile. "Sleep tight, we'll talk later."
Todoroki tried to take a step forward, but he hardly moved before slamming into the ground on his side, signaling the end of the match.
—
"And we have a WINNER!" Midnight exclaimed as the smoke cleared fully and Renji was seen as the only one left standing. "Kanzaki Renji has closed off the tournament in excellent fashion! Give it up, everyone!"
A tidal wave of noise erupted from the stands.
"Todoroki's down! Someone check that boy's organs!"
"Nah, nah, this dude's a monster. LOOK AT HIM. He didn't even break a sweat from that fight."
"He dodged like some sort of damn horror movie villan! My spine hurts just thinking about it."
Several students from Class 1-B were practically going insane.
"How are we supposed to fight that?!"
"You first."
"Hell no—! You first!"
Parents in the upper rows clutched their seats.
"Is this normal?"
"At U.A.? Yes. Unfortunately."
"I don't remember any other student competing this well in a long time."
A group of pro hero fans waved banners wildly.
"KANZAKI RENJI SUPPORTERS RISE UP!"
"He's not even a pro yet, why are you acting like a fandom already exists—"
"IT DOES NOW!"
A deep, guttural cheer rolled through like a stadium quake. "RENN-JI! RENN-JI! RENN-JI!"
From the left bleachers, a lone voice cried, "SIGN MY PHONE CASE!!"
Someone else yelled, "SIGN MY BABY!!"
Back near the front rows, two older hero enthusiasts were arguing heatedly.
"He's definitely Top 10 material one day."
"Top 5, easy. Did you see the weight spike? I don't know how he did it but the boy's moving like prime Gran Torino."
Even the commentators struggled to be heard over the uproar.
Midnight grinned into her mic. "These kids don't get paid enough for this!"
Present Mic pumped his fist. "Man, this year's going to be exciting!"